CHAPTER 5

DIRECT PRODUCT AND GENERATING SETS

5.1 Direct Product

Give two groups G and H, it is possible to construct a new group
from a Cartesian product of G and H, G X H. Conversely, given a large
group, it is sometimes possible to decompose the group; that is, a group
is sometimes isomorphic to the direct product of two smaller groups.
Rather than studying a larger group G, it is often easier to study the
component group of G.

5.1.1. External Direct Product

If (G,) and (H,) are groups, then we can make the Cartesian
product of G and H into the new group. As a set, our group is just the
ordered pairs (g,h)

G X H where g

G and h

H. We can

define a binary operation on G X H by

(g1,h1) (g2,h2) = (g1g2 , h1h2);
that is, we just multiply elements in the first coordinate as we do in G
and elements in the second coordinate as we do in H. We have specified
the particular operations and , in each group here for the sake of
clarity we usually just write (g1,h1) (g2,h2) = (g1g2 , h1h2).

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Proposition 5.1 Let G and H be groups. The set G X H is a group under

the operation (g1;h1) (g2;h2) = (g1g2; h1h2) where g1; g2 2 G and h1; h2 2
H.

Proof. Clearly the binary operation defined above is closed. If eG and eH

are the identities of the groups G and H respectively, then (eG; eH) is the
identity of G X H. The inverse of (g; h)

G X H is (g-1; h-1). The fact

that the operation is associative follows directly from the associativity of

G and H.

Example 1. Let R be the group of real numbers under addition. The

Cartesian product of R with itself, R x R = R2, is also a group, in which
the group operation is just addition in each coordinate; that is, (a; b) + (c;
d) = (a + c; b + d). The identity is (0; 0) and the inverse of (a; b) is (-a;-b).

Example 2. Consider Z2 X Z2 = {(0; 0; (0; 1); (1; 0); (1; 1)}:

Although Z2 X Z2 and Z4 both contain four elements, it is easy to
see that they are not isomorphic since for every element (a; b) in Z2 X Z2,
(a; b) + (a; b) = (0; 0), but Z4 is cyclic.
The group G X H is called the external direct product of G and H.
Notice that there is nothing special about the fact that we have used only
two groups to build a new group.

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Theorem 5.2 Let (g; h)

G X H. If g and h have finite orders r and s

respectively, then the order of (g; h) in G X H is the least common multiple

of r and s.

Proof. Suppose that m is the least common multiple of r and s and let n
= |(g; h)|. Then (g; h)m = (gm; hm) = (eG; eH) (gn; hn) = (g; h)n = (eG; eH).
Hence, n must divide m, and n m. However, by the second equation,
both r and s must divide n; therefore, n is a common multiple of r and s.
Since m is the least common multiple of r and s, m n. Consequently, m
must be equal to n.

Example 3. Let (8; 56)

Z X Z . Since gcd(8; 12) = 4, the order of 8

12
60

is 12=4 = 3 in Z12. Similarly, the order of 56 in Z60 is 15. The least

common multiple of 3 and 15 is 15; hence, (8; 56) has order 15 in Z12 X
Z60.

Theorem 5.3 The group Zm X Zn is isomorphic to Zmn if and only if gcd(m;

n) = 1.

Proof. Assume first that if Zm X Zn

Z , then gcd(m; n) = 1. To show

mn

this, we will prove the contrapositive; that s, we will show that if gcd(m;
n) = d > 1, then Zm X Zn cannot be cyclic. Notice that mn=d is divisible by
both m and n; hence, for any element (a; b)

ZmXZn,

(a; b) + (a; b) + + (a; b) = (0,0)

mn=d times
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Therefore, no (a; b) can generate all of Zm X Zn.

The converse follows directly from Theorem 5.2 since lcm(m; n) = mn if
and only if

gcd(m; n) = 1.

5.1.2. Internal Direct Products

The external direct product of two groups builds a large group out
of two smaller groups. We would like to be able to reverse this process
and conveniently break down a group into its direct product components;
that is, we would like to be able to say when a group is isomorphic to the
direct product of two of its subgroups.
Let G be a group with subgroups H and K satisfying the following
conditions.

G = HK = {hk : h
H K = {e};

hk = kh for all k

H; k 2 K};
K and h

H.

Then G is the internal direct product of H and K.

Example 4. The group U(8) is the internal direct product of

H = {1; 3} and K ={f1; }.

Example 5. The dihedral group D6 is an internal direct product of its

two subgroups
H = {id; r3} and K = {id; r2; r4; s; r2s; r4s}
It can easily be shown that K

S3; consequently, D6

Z XS.
2
3

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Theorem 5.4 Let G be the internal direct product of subgroups H and K.

Then G is isomorphic to H X K.

Proof. Since G is an internal direct product, we can write any element g

:G

G as g = hk for some h

H and some k

K. Define a map

H X K by (g) = (h; k).

Then G is isomorphic to H X K.
The first problem that we must face is to show that - is a welldefined map; that is, we must show that h and k are uniquely
determined by g. Suppose that g = hk = hk. Then h -1h = k(k)-1 is in both
H and K, so it must be the identity. Therefore, h = h and k = k, which
proves that is, indeed, well-defined.

Example 6. The group Z6 is an internal direct product isomorphic to {0;

2; 4} X {0; 3}.
We can extend the definition of an internal direct product of G to a
collection of subgroups H1;H, . . . ,Hn of G, by requiring that

H };
G = H1H2 Hn = {h1h2 hn : hi
i
Hi ( hj i Hj) = {e}
hihj = hjhi for all hi Hi and hj Hj .

We will leave the proof of the following theorem as an exercise.

Theorem 5.5 Let G be the internal direct product of subgroups Hi, where
i = 1,2, . . . . n. Then G is isomorphic to i Hi.
5.2 Subgroup generated by a Subset
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Given a group, and a subset of the group, the subgroup generated

by that subset is defined in the following equivalent ways:

It is the intersection of all subgroups containing that subset

It is a subgroup containing that subset, such that the subset is

a generating set for the subgroup

Definition with symbols

Given a group

and a subset

, the subgroup generated by

of

is

defined in the following equivalent ways:

It is the intersection of all subgroups of

It is a subgroup

containing

such that

and

is a generating

set for
(Recall the fact that an intersection of subgroups is always a subgroup).
The subgroup generated by a subset

is denoted

Example 7.

If a subset

of a group

is a subgroup, then

equals the

subgroup generated by .
The subgroup generated by the empty subset is the trivial
subgroup: it comprises only the identity element.

5.3 Fundamental theorem of finitely generated Abelian groups

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CHAPTER 5

We discuss the fundamental theorem of abelian groups to give a

concrete illustration of when something that seems natural is not.
Definition 5.1. An abelian group A is said to be finitely generated if there
are finitely many elements a1, ..., aq A such that, for any x A, there
q

are integers k1, ..., kq such that x=

kiai
i=1

. The finitely generated group

A is said to be free of rank q if the a i can be so chosen that x=

k ' iai
i=1

implies ki = kI for 1 i q. That is, x can be expressed uniquely as a

linear combination of the ai; the set {ai} is then said to be a basis for A.
Let N denote the positive integers (natural numbers).
Definition 5.2. Let A be an abelian group. The torsion subgroup of A,
denoted T(A), is the set T(A) = {a A | n N such that na = 0}.
Definition 5.3. An abelian group A is said to be torsion-free if T(A) = {0}.
Lemma 5.4. Let A be an abelian group. Then A/T(A) is torsion-free.
Proof. We leave this as an exercise for the reader.
Theorem 5.6. If A is a finitely generated torsion-free abelian group that
has a minimal set of generators with q elements, then A is isomorphic to
the free abelian group of rank q.
Proof. By induction on the minimal number of generators of A. If A is
cyclic (that is, generated by one non-zero element), the conclusion is
clear. Suppose that the result holds for all finitely generated torsion-free
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abelian groups with a minimal set of generators having less than q

elements. Suppose A is torsion-free and has a minimal set of q
generators, say a1, , aq. If

mb = ai for any i and some m N, we may

replace ai by b and still have a set of generators, so we may as well

assume that mb = ai implies m = 1. We claim that {ai} is a basis for A. Let
a = a1. We
claim that the quotient A/Za is torsion free. Suppose not, say mc = 0
where c is the image of c A in A/Za. Then mc = na for some n Z. We
can assume that n 1 and that m and n are relatively prime, say rm +
sn = 1 for integers r and s.
Let b = ra + sc. Then
mb = mra + msc = rma + sna = a,
hence m = 1 and c = 0. Now A/Za1 is torsion-free, and the set of q 1
elements ai, i 2, is a minimal set of generators and hence a basis for

A/Za. To check our first claim, it suffices to show that

kiai

= 0

implies ki = 0 for each i, and this is now an immediate verification.

Definition 6.6. Let A be an abelian group, and let B and C be subgroups
of A. We say that A is the internal direct sum of B and C, denoted A = B
C, if A = B +C and B C = {0} where B + C = {b + c|b B and c C}.
Example 8. A free abelian group of rank q is the internal direct sum of q
cyclic subgroups, each isomorphic to Z.

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CHAPTER 5

Exercises:
1. Verify the claims (a) (d) regarding the subgroups Ai in a direct
product G = A1 . . . An.
2. Verify the relations between the subgroups Ai

A and their
i

complementary subgroups Hi.

3. The direct product of two groups G and H is the group G H
with group operation (g, h)(g , h ) = (gg , hh ) for g, g G and
h, h H. Suppose G = (g) and H = (h) are cyclic of orders m and
n, respectively, and that gcd(m, n) = 1. Prove that G H is cyclic
of order mn.
4. Prove that the multiplicative group of complex numbers is the
direct product of the group of positive real number and of the
group of all complex numbers with absolute value 1.

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CHAPTER 5

5. Prove that if n

3 then the multiplicative group of the

residue ring Z2n is the direct product of the subgroup { 1}

and the cyclic group 2n-2.
6. What is the order:
a. Of a direct product of finite group.
b. Of an element o direct product of finite group.
7. Show that a group G with a normal subgroup of H,K whenever
both H and K are normal G,H K = 1 HK=G.
8. Let D be a subgroup of the direct product of A X B of groups A
nd B coprime orders. Prove D

( D A) X ( D B).

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